It is finally spring after a long cold winter. I’ve started working in the garden a little bit. It’s still too cold to plant summer vegetables outside, so I’m focusing on cleaning up the garden, planting cool weather crops and starting tomatoes and peppers indoors.
If you’ve never gardened before, it’s easy to get started. The key is to start small. In the beginning, it’s easy to get excited, plant a whole bunch of seeds and plants and then have them not grow. The best thing to do is choose 3 – 5 vegetables that are easy to grow and you like to eat. For example, lettuce, zucchini and parsley should be easy. A small garden that is successful is better than going overboard with a large garden that doesn’t grow.
Choose the vegetables based on an easily accessible location that gets at least 6 hours of sunlight. A small area with a raised bed, containers or in ground garden will work fine. An in ground garden may require soil enhancements though, if the quality isn’t great. I have 9 raised beds on the front lawn facing south, so it gets full all day sun and does well. Different vegetables can also be grown in the same pot or raised bed. A tomato plant with a little lettuce or basil in the same container is fine. Just don’t overcrowd. Give each plant room to breathe.
Go simple and just use bags of soil and compost. Choose organic if you can afford it. There are bags of soil made just for containers and raised beds if you go with either of those.
You can buy seeds or starter plants at greenhouses. I plant mostly from seed, but once in a while will buy starter tomato and pepper plants if I didn’t start them indoors in the early spring. I buy seeds from Baker Creek at rareseeds.com. There are a lot of different online seed companies. Do a little research before settling on a company. When possible, buy organic, non-gmo seeds and plants. A key to growing your own vegetables is to avoid the pesticides used in store bought produce. Organic, fresh garden vegetables will have the most flavor.
Once the seeds or starter plants are planted, water the plants consistently and according to the type of plant. Check them as you can, at least every few days to weekly. I like to go check on the garden most days. It’s peaceful, calming and fun to see what has grown since the last time I checked it. Watch and wait. When harvest time arrives, harvest the vegetables regularly. Add to meals, saute, make salads, whatever you like. There are cookbooks with recipes that are based on using vegetables from the garden.
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